1 ETF Shows The Economy Is Stronger Than We Think, Bulldog Holmes Tells Benzinga

Renowned businessman and U.S. Global Investors CEO Frank 'Bulldog' Holmes appeared on Benzinga's PreMarket Prep show Wednesday morning to discuss a variety of topics, including how the U.S. Global Jets ETF JETS is up 15.4% in the last month.

JETS counts the “Big 4” airlines — Delta Air Lines, Inc. DAL, United Continental Holdings Inc UAL, American Airlines Group Inc AAL and Southwest Airlines Co LUV — among its holdings.

Here are some highlights the discussion Holmes had with co-hosts Joel Elconin, Mitch Hoch and Dennis Dick:

• Airlines: One of the strongest leading indicators of economic health is the Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), especially when you want to look at commodities, Holmes said. "And when you want to look at the overall economy in America and the globe, you want to look at JETS," he said. Why? There's no discount on flights nowadays. We're back at pre-COVID ticket prices, he explained, citing how consumers are no longer reluctant to go on a holiday. "There's no discount ... that means a stronger economy. JETS is saying the economy is stronger than we think," he added. "It will maintain."
• PMI Is The Only Headwind: PMI is "very weak in China again," Holmes says, citing how copper, steel and oil prices fell. But that's a silver lining for JETS. "Guess what's good for the airlines? Falling oil prices; that's even better profit wise," Holmes said. "So, not only is the consumer booking and paying full fare, the airlines are now getting this margin cushion with oil falling, so this is a very positive scenario for the overall industry."
• Web3, Digital Transformation: Holmes, who is chair of Hive Blockchain Technologies, praised artificial intelligence (AI) and chips from NVIDIA Corp NVDA for being able to profit from cryptocurrency mining. By mining proof-of-work smaller coins, which have higher profit margins, Holmes converts them to Bitcoin "to pay the bills." AI "has been an important part of our growth," he added, calling the adoption of ChatGPT "unprecedented."
• NFTs: The NFT art world is very disruptive to art dealers, who charge 50% commissions, Holmes says. "It's like Uber disrupting the taxi cab business, so that will continue to grow along with gaming," he said. 
• How Holmes Earned The Nickname 'Bulldog': Holmes played "all major sports" in high school, where the team mascot was a bulldog. "I was known for defense," he said.

To watch the interview, see below or click here.

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